In commonly owned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/555,812, there is disclosed a window shade having a retarder operatively associated with a pull cord. The retarder includes a base member, and two retarding shafts and a rod member that are disposed on the base member and that are horizontally spaced apart from each other. Each retarding shaft includes a core pin retained on the base member, and a roller rotatably sleeved on the core pin. The rod member is disposed below the retarding shafts and is located between the retarding shafts in the horizontal direction. The pull cord extends into the base member, and extends in sequence around one of the retarding shafts, around the other one of the retarding shafts and around the rod member before exiting the base member in a downward direction. The retarder provides a friction force to retard movement of the pull cord.
The entire disclosure of the aforementioned commonly owned and co-pending U.S. Patent Application is incorporated herein in its entirety.